Kindred Spirits
by penspunk
Summary: True love was a blessing that not many had the chance to experience in their lifetime, but it seemed that when it struck, it certainly needed all the help that it could get. Unfortunately for Mako, Jinora was today's help. A series of one shots set in the Avatar universe. Accepting prompts.
1. The Art of Persuasion

**Pairing: **Makorra, ~book 1.5

**Word Count: **930

**Summary: **True love was a blessing that not many had the chance to experience in their lifetime, but it seemed that when it struck, it certainly needed all the help that it could get.

Unfortunately for Mako, Jinora was today's help.

**Author's Note:** A series of one shots based on any Legend of Korra characters, any genre, any universe, any pairing. Just send me a one sentence prompt with the characters you want, and I'll see what I can do!

Prompt from It's 10 to 1: "Catboy Mako?" I hope my take on your suggestion is okay. :) Jinora is the ultimate shipper and Mako is just so easy to tease! Please leave your thoughts and/or prompts in a review.

* * *

If there was anything in Jinora's eleven short years of life that she was certain of, anything at all, it was that no matter how completely, totally, and _utterly_ meant for each other two people were, sometimes their destinies weren't always perfectly aligned. She saw this in her well-loved historical sagas about star crossed lovers who spent their entire lives searching for their other halves, only to perish in the process. She saw this in the young air acolyte couple living on the island who always had sweet words and a kind smile for her, and who would have made wonderful parents but couldn't conceive. She saw this in her parents, who would have missed their chance at a life together if it hadn't been for her mother's decision to confess her feelings to her father.

Yes. True love was a blessing that not many had the chance to experience in their lifetime, but it seemed that when it struck, it certainly needed all the help that it could get.

Unfortunately for Mako, Jinora was today's help.

"But Mako, if you'd-"

"Jinora, look. I appreciate you wanting to help, but I already told the others I wouldn't be coming along. I've got a few cases piled up on my desk at the office and Lin will have my head if they're not done by tomorrow."

"_Everyone's_ going though. You'll be the only one gone, and we'll miss you!" Jinora clasped her hands to her chest and looked beseechingly up at the cop with big eyes. "Please?"

"You don't even enjoy these sorts of things!" Mako reasoned. "Wouldn't you rather stay home and read a book or something anyway?"

"Yeah but… I just thought we could all have some fun." Jinora pouted and shifted her gaze to look forlornly down at the ground, where her toe scuffed the dirt. "It's been so long since we've done something together." she replied wistfully.

Mako shook his head. "This isn't… I mean… you know I don't even have a costume."

Jinora perked up.

"I can help you with that!" she said excitedly. "We've always got extra stuff lying around, I'm sure we can whip something up in no time!"

Mako sighed, running a hand through his hair as he considered. He really did have some work to catch up on - that wasn't just an empty excuse (and Lin truly was a force of nature when she was angry) - but the kids, and Jinora especially, were so excited about this festival…

"Plleeeeaaasseeee?" Jinora urged feeling his resolve crack, and laid on a pout for good measure.

That did it.

"…nggh, fine." he yielded. He always caved to the pout, even with Bolin.

"Ooh! Oh, this is wonderful! Oh I'm sure the others are going to be _so_ excited that you're coming, this is going to be _so_ much fun, thank you _so_ much, Mako!"

Mako shuffled his feet and cocked an eyebrow at the young airbender floating circles around him in glee, then shrugged. Obviously if she was this excited about it, he could afford to cut work a few hours short. Besides, maybe a night out with friends would be a good break for him. Jinora was right, they had all been caught up in their own business recently and it had been a few weeks since they'd truly had the chance to spend some time together.

"So, uh, what exactly did you have in mind for my costume?"

Jinora whirled to a stop in front of him.

"Oh!" She analyzed him for a moment from head to toe before allowing a slow smirk to make its way onto her face.

"Don't worry about that. I've got _just_ the thing." A suspicious glint entered her eyes as she pulled Mako away by the arm.

And really, this should have been Mako's first cue that something was wrong.

* * *

The snug black ensemble paired with the cat ears that Jinora somehow convinced him to wear should have been the second.

* * *

"Jinora, I'm not sure about this. Seriously, what's with these ears?"

"Don't worry, Mako. The theme for tonight is animals, see? I'm a winged lemur, and Korra wanted to be an otter penguin, and Asami's going to be a dragonfly bunny spirit. You'll fit right in!"

"But these pants are so… uncomfortable."

"That's spandex. Embrace it."

They drew nearer and nearer to the dock, where Mako could see the group in costume already gathered and waiting for the ferry that would take them to the mainland.

"Uh. It's just, doesn't this costume seem a little…"

"Yes?" Jinora prodded.

Mako's ears turned red as he considered how to put this.

"Uh, doesn't it seem a little… _mature_?"

"Oh. Well, yeah."

Mako choked. "What?!"

Jinora quickened her steps just slightly. "Of course it is. I mean, how else do you expect to impress Korra tonight? Besides, I think the whole 'cool guy' routine is starting to get old. You should really try a different approach."

Panicking, Mako scrambled to grab a hold of the young airbender. "JIN- you - this is-"

"Oh, hello everyone! Look who decided to come!" Jinora called out eagerly, darting quickly out of Mako's reach and onto the dock as everyone turned towards them in greeting before slowly taking in his appearance.

Mako felt like he was on fire, from his cat ears to the tip of his furry black tail.

And it only took him one look at Asami's mouth wide open in surprise, and Korra's barely suppressed fits of laughter to decide that he was never - _ever -_ going to trust Jinora again.


	2. A Bit of Trash

**Title: A Bit of Trash**

**Disclaimer:** All Bryke's.

**Pairing: **Makorra

**Genre:** Humor

**Word Count:** 606

**Summary:** Mako and Korra meet in modern day New York City. Neither make the most ideal first-impression.

* * *

"I saw you throw that wrapper on the ground when there's a trashcan right over there, dickwheeze."

The voice came from behind Mako through the chill air, carrying over the sounds of midnight traffic and city life swirling around him. Fall was hitting sooner than he'd expected and he burrowed his nose lower down into the battered scarf wrapped around his neck as he ignored the voice that was most likely directed at someone else and kept walking.

"Hey! I'm talking to you, greaser!" A hand suddenly appeared on his shoulder and roughly pulled him around.

"What the-" he stopped.

Mako's eyes trailed from the tanned hand still resting on his shoulder past quite a muscular arm, and into a pair of shockingly blue and angry eyes.

"You think you can just chuck your garbage all over the road and no one's going to care?"

"I-"

"Well I've got news for you, buddy. What if some stray comes by and thinks that's food, huh? What, the life of some poor animal doesn't mean anything to a pretty boy like you? You ever thought that maybe this shit city might not be so, I dunno, _shitty_, if we all just took care of our own _damn_ _trash_ and threw it in thefucking trashcan _where it's supposed to fucking go_?!"

The young girl (because dumbfounded though he was, Mako was at least aware of the fact that she was around his age) motioned wildly to her right where, to her credit, Mako noted a single rusting metal trashcan leaning pitifully against the fire escape outside of a seedy apartment complex. He then glanced down the sidewalk where, just moments before, he'd dropped a crumpled plastic candy wrapper to the ground. It lay there twitching in the slight breeze.

Mako looked back at the girl and attempted to formulate a response to her sudden attack.

"…greaser?"

The girl paused in her fuming for a moment before shooting him a disgusted look as she quickly jerked her hand away from him and rolled her eyes.

"Seriously? _That's_ all you got out of that?"

Mako scoffed, defensively raising a hand to comb through his hair. "I'm not a greaser."

"Yeah? Well the 1950's just called, they want their hair gel back. Really, how much of that stuff do you use?"

"I- _excuse_\- how does-"

"But we're off point. Let's get back to your awful sanitary habits and the immediate negative repercussions they have on our environment."

"_What?!"_

"Look. All I'm saying is throw your damn trash away in a damn trash can. Got it?"

"You-"

"It's honestly a concept that most people get by the age of three. I'm sure you're familiar with it."

"Who the-"

"I'm not even asking for an apology, just go throw your fucking trash away!"

"_FINE!_"

Mako huffed and angrily shoved past the girl who turned to watch him through narrowed eyes as he stomped the six feet back to the wrapper, snatched it up off the ground, and marched it to the trash can where he shoved it through the lid.

He then turned to where she stood and gestured sarcastically to the trash can. "Happy?!"

She considered him for a moment with an upturned nose before casually shrugging a shoulder and turning to leave.

"Yeah. Thanks."

Snorting with indignation, Mako shoved his hands into his pockets and began walking away, resolving to put the entire irritating incident behind him. All he wanted was a quick dinner with his brother, and then the comfort of his mattress.

And then, thrown over her shoulder and just audible to his ears: "Coulda done without the attitude, though."


	3. Possibilities

**Title: **The Possibilities

**Word Count: **1,044

**Summary: **Jinora trains the next Avatar, and they get an unexpected visitor.

**Prompt from:** It's 10 to 1 - Old Krew with the Avatar after Korra. I tried including all of the old Krew in this, but Jinora just… took the wheel and never let go. Not sure if I'm happy with this one, but nevertheless it's done. Review!

* * *

They found him uneventfully in an impoverished village on the outskirts of Garsai at the age of fifteen. There, the residents still considered Satomobiles luxuries, and the run down theatre in the village center opened once every Sunday to show old black and white movers. If Bolin had still been there, he would have mourned the state of the dilapidated screen and immediately donated proceeds from his (still) famous Nuktuk movers to ensure that the villagers were receiving the best in entertainment, in typical Bolin fashion.

As it was, the three figures walking down the dusty path flanked by two members of the White Lotus were Jinora, Mako, and Asami.

The furtive glances cast at them by passing individuals were ignored. Word had come to Republic City only a week before of a young earthbender in this region named Akhi suddenly gaining the ability to firebend, and the claim seemed legitimate enough for the three old friends to personally investigate.

With directions given to his house by a neighbor, he'd been easy enough to find. His father had passed in a mining accident many years before, but his mother was there to greet them with eager smiles and steaming cups of chamomile tea. Akhi himself was perfectly polite and eager to meet the three elders, whose names he knew well from the stories he'd heard of Avatar Korra and her adventures. He had a quiet nature, not unlike Aang's, but the typical stubbornness associated with most earthbenders gave his personality a steadfast quality that the three elders found reminiscent of Korra.

Within the week, they had moved Akhi and all of his belongings to Air Temple Island, where he was to stay during his mastery of the four elements. Since Korra's passing fifteen years before, the island had been expanded (literally, with the help of Lin, Su Yin, and Bolin) to allow the White Lotus to set up headquarters during their search for the new Avatar, as well as to accommodate the consistently growing Air Nation. There, Akhi spent the next three years steadily mastering earthbending and firebending from the best teachers in the world, and had turned eighteen before finally beginning his airbending training under the tutelage of Master Jinora herself.

Although Jinora had found his disposition over the years to be very calm and pleasant, Akhi had so far exhibited a similar inability to connect with his spiritual side as Korra had. Sitting with Akhi in the sunlit meditation pavilion where she herself had trained with her father, Jinora felt like she finally understood what Tenzin must have had to go through to teach Korra airbending those many decades ago.

"So… how long are we doing this for again?"

Jinora could hear Akhi shuffling slightly with discomfort in front of her, and peeked an eye open.

"Until you are able to feel the movements of the air around you, and release your thoughts to the wind," she answered patiently.

"Oh. Alright."

There were a few moments of silence, and then -

"Yeah," he dragged the word out. "This isn't working for me."

Jinora breathed deeply and opened her eyes, studying him as he relaxed his posture and leaned back on his hands.

"Every time I try to focus on the wind, I just focus on the ground instead. So much more interesting movement down there, you know?" he gestured.

Jinora uncrossed her legs and leaned back as well, stretching her sore muscles and looking out over the glistening waters of Yue Bay.

"As an earthbender, air is the natural foil to your native element," she said slowly. "Tell me, how is it that you can move the earth so easily?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, it's just natural. I tell the earth to move, and then it just… does."

"And what if the earth were to one day ignore you?"

Akhi laughed at the thought. "I guess I've never considered that a possibility."

"Exactly." Jinora replied with a smile, earning herself a confused look.

"Look at that tree for me, Akhi. Can you see the leaves moving in the wind?"

He glanced up above at the gently swaying branches of the maple and nodded.

"You and I could sit here all day and watch those leaves, but we would never be able to predict which way the wind would blow them next. Air is an inherently unpredictable element, more so than earth, water, or even fire. In order to bend air, one must be open to its unpredictability and willing to change with it, to consider the possibilities. You feel the earth because you are resolute and inflexible, both of which are key elements to being a capable earthbender, but ineffective for air. You must open yourself up to change, and airbending will come to you naturally. Do you understand?"

Akhi mulled over her words for a minute before slowly nodding.

Jinora smiled. "Good. Shall we try again?"

"Sure." he replied.

Both benders assumed their meditation poses once again, and the pavilion fell silent.

It hadn't been more than ten minutes, though, when Jinora noticed a slight shift in the air around her. Assuming that someone had arrived from the kitchens to call them in for lunch, Jinora opened her eyes to quietly dismiss them, only to stop, shocked at what met her eyes.

There, sitting next to Akhi in an identical meditation pose and looking for all the world like she had always been there, was Korra. She was eighteen again, with her ponytail hanging proudly from her head and her skin free of the wrinkles from her later years. Her outlines were blurred and the colors of her clothes faded, but when she peeked an eye open, it was the same bright, striking blue that Jinora still remembered.

Akhi had not yet noticed Korra's presence, concentrated as he was, but Jinora quietly reached a hand out towards the spirit and gently brushed along the outline of her old friend's cheek.

"Korra," Jinora mouthed breathlessly trying to convey everything she felt into the silent word, and the returning grin was familiar enough to bring tears to her eyes. 'It's good to see you too,' Korra's eyes seemed to say before she closed her eyes and faced forward again.

And together, they meditated.


	4. Test Flight

**Title: **Test Flight

**Word Count: **1,357

**Summary:** Asami was born to be an engineer… flying was a different story.

**Prompt:** "That wasn't supposed to happen…" Inspired by the Bryke interview where they mention that Asami developed the air bender's flight suits in season 4.

* * *

Asami was born to be an engineer.

Despite her less than ideal history with her father, she was at least grateful to have inherited his company from him. Hiroshi had been a hard-working, passionate man who had put his soul into making his company internationally known, and without his help Sato Industries would not have been where it was now. Every moment she spent managing her business and walking through her factories and inventing new technology, it was drilled deeper into Asami's core that this was what she was meant to do. Her socket wrench fit better in her palm than any boy's hand ever had, and more of her clothes than she liked to admit had permanent grease stains on the elbows from long nights fiddling with machinery.

Engineering Asami knew.

Flying… was a different story.

Unfortunately, this was a conclusion she came to _after_ she found herself hanging upside down from the rafters of her test lab, thirty feet above ground, held up only by a strip of torn fabric connected to her waist.

"Fuck."

It had been ten minutes before her pride abated enough for her to begin calling for help, and another five before the blood rushing to her head made her shut up before she lost her lunch to a floor that seemed to be getting farther and farther away by the second.

Luckily, Jinora chose that exact moment to show up.

With a polite knock on the door frame and a step inside, she called, "Asami? I hope I'm not interrupting, but your butler said I would find you - " Jinora glanced around, clearly wondering where the older girl was. "…not here."

"Jinora!" Asami ground out desperately, still struggling with the straps on her outfit as she slowly turned a frightening shade of green.

Startled, Jinora looked up and gave a gasp of surprise before hurriedly blasting up to Asami's height and landing on the rafter.

After many frantic questions from the airbender and a little finagling, they managed to unhook the offending piece of cloth from the rafter and gently float to the ground where Asami immediately sat down and stuck her head between her knees, taking deep breaths to settle the contents of her stomach.

"Are you alright?" Jinora asked with concern after a few minutes. She had never seen the young engineer so disheveled.

Lifting her head, Asami nodded and swallowed thickly, shakily standing up to assess the damage to her clothing. "I'm fine." She groaned, "Oh, but this is a _mess_. Crap, how am I going to -" She trailed off.

Moving to her desk, she shoved multiple stacks of paper aside and picked up a folio, flipping it open and scanning its contents before grabbing a pencil and scribbling something out.

Jinora shuffled from foot to foot worriedly. "Asami?"

Asami mumbled vaguely before turning the page and chewing on her pencil thoughtfully.

"Uh, can I… ask what you're wearing?" Jinora leaned over to catch a glimpse of the papers, and had just registered what looked like a design for some type of outfit before Asami noticed her and quickly shut the folder with an awkward laugh.

"Oh! This is… it's nothing!" With a cheery smile, she turned fully to face Jinora. "So, what were you doing here anyway? Not that I mind! I'm really glad you dropped by, I'm afraid I would have been sick if I'd been up there for any longer." Asami fidgeted with the sleeves of her outfit and laughed again.

Jinora gave her a skeptical once-over, but replied after a pause.

"My mom wanted to invite you to dinner tonight. It's been a while since you've visited the Island, and Mako will be there too. But what -"

"Ah! Well dinner sounds wonderful, tell Pema I'll be there around six, thanks!"

With a dismissive wave, Asami moved to the other side of the table and busied herself with shuffling the stacks of paper around a bit in a desperate attempt to look preoccupied.

Jinora waited patiently for about ten seconds before clearing her throat.

"What were you doing though?"

Asami heaved a sigh before stopping her fidgeting and grudgingly turning towards Jinora again.

"I've… ooh, I wasn't going to tell anyone until they were finished! I wanted it to be a surprise." Asami pouted, combing a hand through her tangled hair. "I mean, what with all the new air benders and you having your tattoos for two years now I just thought it'd be nice for you to have something- but I can't really get these designs to work, and I hoped the aerodynamics would be similar to my planes but I have no idea how to even -"

"Asami!" Jinora interrupted. "_What_ are you talking about?"

Asami threw her arms up in defeat and looked glumly down at the girl. "I'm making flight suits. For the airbenders."

It took a moment, but eventually Jinora's eyes widened in realization. "That's… that's amazing Asami!"

"Well, thanks but I'm not really making much-"

"And this explains so much! You've been so busy recently. And that's why your clothes look so…"

"What? They look what?"

"Wait, but how did you end up hanging from the ceiling?"

"Yeah. That wasn't supposed to happen."

"Clearly."

Asami frustratedly grabbed her portfolio again and flipped through a few more blueprints of suits she had drawn in the weeks preceding. "I've been working on them for a couple of months now, but I just can't seem to find a wing design that maximizes the gliding distance without compromising practicality. You can only making the wings so big, and -"

Jinora's hand gently pulled the binder away from her. "Let me see that. Maybe I can help?"

Asami blew a strand of hair out of her face before slumping down into a chair and motioning widely. "Give it a shot."

Taking a seat next to her, Jinora slowly turned the pages, giving each sketch a critical look.

"This one's all wrong." she began matter-of-factly, pointing at a particular sketch with accordion-style wings that Asami had thought was quite ingenious (before testing it, of course).

"Thank you." Asami deadpanned.

"And this one looks really impractical. How would the back fin even pop out? This one doesn't look flexible enough for all our bending forms, maybe change the clothing material? Oh, but I like the collar. Hmm… have you thought about designing something based off of flying lemurs?"

Asami shook her head.

"Well, it's no wonder you haven't found one that works yet!" Jinora giggled, but quickly hid it with a small cough when she caught Asami's look. "I just mean, maybe you should have an actual airbender test it out. I could give you some pointers on adjustments, but I'd need to try it out first and get a feel for how easy it is to move through the air while wearing it. What do you say?"

Asami tapped her chin with her finger, considering Jinora. "It's not such a bad idea…" she admitted slowly. "I'd need permission from Tenzin first, of course."

Jinora nodded eagerly. "That's not a problem. Dad will love the idea, I can tell."

Asami leveled her with a look. "And you _can't_ let anyone else know about this. I still want it to be a surprise, okay?"

"Deal!"

Asami hesitated for one more moment, then sighed with relief, slumping further into her chair and throwing her head back. "Oh, thank the spirits! I don't think I would have been able to survive another flight test."

Jinora laughed. "I'm sure that's an exaggeration."

Asami shook her head. "No. No, it really isn't."

"Well, luckily for you, I'll be doing all the flying from now on. Right?"

"Right."

"And you'll be doing all of the complicated stitch work, right?"

Asami groaned. "Right. I keep forgetting I hate sewing."

"And I'll be the first airbender in the entire world to use a Sato-original flight suit! Can you believe it?"

Asami had to smile at that. "Yeah. This is going to be great!"

Jinora beamed.

"I just have one more important question for you, though." Asami said.

Jinora cocked her head in reply.

"What's for dinner?"

* * *

I'll probably come back and edit this one later. Review!


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